FJD Nevada 27. Texas Springs Museum Specimen. Texas Springs, also sometimes called Jackpot, Nevada, is a famous site for limb casts. This has an opaque opaline mineralization. The domed polished end seems to glow. This is a great way to showcase the gem quality chalcedony – it’s a crystal wand. Natural on the other end. The polished end measures 28 by 40 mm. The specimen is 146 mm long; eight ounces.$75

FJD NEVADA 26. Goldfield, NEV, Museum Specimen from my collection.A rare piece from a once fabulous collecting area that didn’t last long once the California rock clubs learned about it in the 1960s. This was the first larger log I had in my collection – more than 30 years ago and the guy I got it from had it for many years. Beautiful and remarkably solid. 9 by 7 cm mirror-polished face; 26 cm long; six pounds and ten ounces.$1400

NEV 163. Texas Springs Museum Specimen. Texas Springs, also sometimes called Jackpot, Nevada, is a famous site for pink limb casts. This is a super solid and glassy full round limb section with a deeply translucent pink interior. One end is natural and the other polished with a slight dome. 6 by 5 cm mirror-polished face; 6 cm long; twelve ounces.$65

This is me in 2004 or so with Emily, who was then the tallest Joshua tree in the world.

FJD NEV wood 10. Museum specimen from my collection. The Holy Grail of fossil wood — Joshua Tree… Protoyucca shadishii, named after the now sadly departed Dr. Wm Shadish, a saintly man from Redding, California, who was the first one to take the newly discovered material to an expert to be identified. A paper was produced by Dr. Tidwell of BYU and others naming the newly discovered form genus Protoyucca shadishii. Miocene/Pliocene. It appears to have affinities to the Joshua tree of the Yucca family. This is a superior example of fossil Joshua as found in its native habitat, uncut by man, all natural. It is densely and well silicified, likely gemmy with some color inside. It has an unusual shape. I cannot tell what part of the plant it was. It almost looks like a frond. It has a somewhat rounded flat end that shows blue chalcedony that I have pondered cutting and polishing, but I always s vote to keep it as is. 143 mm long by about 82 by 58 mm.$450

FJD NEV wood 12. Museum specimen from my collection. Washoe County, Nevada. Tertiary full round limb with associated limbs. This is quite unusual. You can easily see the main limb section – what makes it extra special is the jumble of limbs that is connected to it. This appears to have been a mass of limbs that fossilized together. One possible scenario is that the limbs came together in a volcanic eruption or associated mud flow and were buried together prior to petrification. Nice even growth rings with excellent ring porous hardwood cell structure and borer holes filled with agate. 84 mm long; 25 by 25 mm mirror- polished face for the round; nine ounces.$70

NEV 161. Rare Hubbard Basin Museum Specimen. I recently acquired a few specimens that were collected at least a half century ago. I got them from a friend who has had them for forty years and he got them from an old-timer who had them for a long time as well. They are full round limb sections from Hubbard Basin, a hardwood species like spruce, and if you know anything about Hubbard Basin you know that small limb sections are extremely rare. This one is a bit more gold than most and displays beautifully the classic array of Hubbard Basin blue, red, and gold and has a few extra translucent agatey blue sections. It also has a lovely knot. Polished on one end with the other end left natural. A rare find. 8 cm tall; 7 by 8 cm mirror- polished mildly domed face; two pounds and two ounces.$275

FJD NEV wood 11. Monumental Museum specimen from my collection. Cherry Creek, Nevada. Cherry Creek was the source of some of the finest petrified wood ever found on the planet earth. This one is beautifully twisted and gnarled and even has several branches or roots. It has super nice conifer cell structure and is a dream under magnification. This was an old and very large tree, probably a juniper, and has many (100+) growth rings to prove it. It appears on page 242 of Ancient Forests. Cut on both ends and polished on both ends – very nice touch reserved for such perfect specimens, and this baby is perfect – not one fracture – No glue — No fillers. Great colors and blue agate. The finest Cherry Creek specimen I have owned. 13 cm tall; 14 by 7 and 11 by 5 cm polished faces; five pounds and fourteen ounces. $5500